On Tuesday night, the New York Yankees broke a six-game losing streak at Camden Yards as they beat the Orioles 7-5. With the win, New York moved to within two games of the Tampa Bay Rays for the second AL wild-card spot. For Baltimore, the defeat prevented them from moving to within a half-game of the Rays.

The Birds held the lead late, but rookie Kevin Gausman was lit up in the eighth-inning as the Yanks rallied to earn the victory.

Heading into Wednesday night’s contest with New York, the Orioles have 18 games remaining. All of them extremely important. Of course, losing like they did on Tuesday does not help their chances. For the Yankees, it was a huge win as they refuse to go away and continue to put pressure on Baltimore.

Winning the AL East is not happening. The Boston Red Sox are in a position of strength when it comes to securing the pennant.

However, that second wild-card spot is up for grabs.

The Rays have lost 12 of their last 16 games and are barely holding it together. Not only are the Orioles and Yankees on their heels, but the Cleveland Indians are very much in it, as well. Also, let’s not forget the Kansas City Royals, who are only three-games out heading into Wednesday’s action.

I’m still waiting for the Orioles to put together an extended winning streak. Obviously, now would be the best time to make that happen. The schedule is tough and competition is deep. Let’s see if they are capable of doing it.

Win or lose, it’s almost mid-September and the Baltimore Orioles are playing important baseball games for the second-straight season. And that sure as hell beats being 25 games behind the pack.